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Step 9

Difficulty: Hard

6 hours, plus time for paint to dry

Antique entablature is about $200, plus $250 for mirror, and $150 for new lumber

The entrance halls of Victorian-era houses were often decorated with large pier mirrors in front of which homeowners could primp on their way out for the day. My mom—a serial renovator—had a beautiful gilded version that she carted from one old-house project to the next, always propping it proudly against a foyer wall. For my DIY pier mirror, I used the entablature of an old door casing for the top and preprimed pilasters from a lumberyard for the sides and bottom. White paint unifies the old wood with the new. Here’s the step-by-step: